Citizens who have one or more chronic health conditions (among list of 12 conditions) who reported taking 6 or more different prescription medications on a regular basis

Table

Unit %

Year 2024 Year 2023 Year 2020 Year 2017 Year 2014 Year 2011
Province
New Brunswick
17.2
16.1 - 18.3
17.4
16.4 - 18.5
17.6
16.8 - 18.4
16.4
15.8 - 17.0
15.2
14.6 - 15.8
12.4
11.9 - 13.0
Health zones
Zone 1 - Moncton and South-East Area
13.2
11.3 - 15.2
15.3
13.3 - 17.2
14.8
13.4 - 16.3
15.4
14.2 - 16.5
13.9
12.7 - 15.1
11.7
10.6 - 12.8
Zone 2 - Fundy Shore and Saint John Area
16.7
14.4 - 19.1
18.8
16.2 - 21.3
17.0
15.3 - 18.7
16.2
14.9 - 17.5
12.4
11.3 - 13.5
11.3
10.2 - 12.4
Zone 3 - Fredericton and River Valley Area
18.4
16.1 - 20.8
15.0
12.8 - 17.1
16.8
15.3 - 18.2
15.4
14.1 - 16.7
15.0
13.8 - 16.2
13.1
11.9 - 14.3
Zone 4 - Madawaska and North-West Area
24.3
20.0 - 28.5
20.9
16.5 - 25.3
22.7
19.7 - 25.7
19.3
17.1 - 21.6
18.7
16.1 - 21.2
16.1
14.0 - 18.3
Zone 5 - Restigouche Area
29.5
24.5 - 34.5
25.7
21.2 - 30.2
24.6
20.9 - 28.3
22.1
18.9 - 25.3
24.0
19.9 - 28.1
16.2
13.4 - 19.0
Zone 6 - Bathurst and Acadian Peninsula Area
17.7
14.1 - 21.4
21.1
17.2 - 25.0
21.4
19.0 - 23.7
19.6
17.5 - 21.7
19.3
16.9 - 21.6
12.6
11.0 - 14.2
Zone 7 - Miramichi Area
19.2
15.3 - 23.1
18.4
14.4 - 22.4
17.8
14.3 - 21.3
13.4
11.0 - 15.8
15.8
12.6 - 18.9
10.7
8.8 - 12.5
Age
18-64
12.5
11.3 - 13.7
12.5
11.2 - 13.7
12.4
11.5 - 13.4
12.0
11.3 - 12.7
11.8
11.1 - 12.5
8.9
8.4 - 9.5
65 and over
25.6
23.6 - 27.6
26.4
24.5 - 28.4
26.6
25.3 - 27.9
25.2
24.1 - 26.4
24.3
23.2 - 25.5
22.7
21.4 - 23.9
Gender
Female
17.5
16.2 - 18.9
16.1
14.8 - 17.4
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Male
17.0
15.2 - 18.7
19.1
17.3 - 20.9
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
2SLGBTQIA+ status
2SLGBTQIA+
8.2
5.0 - 11.3
14.6
9.8 - 19.4
16.8
12.7 - 20.9
n/a
n/a
n/a
Language
Most comfortable in English
17.7
16.4 - 19.1
17.4
16.1 - 18.7
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Most comfortable in French
15.3
13.2 - 17.5
18.8
16.4 - 21.3
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Comfortable in both English and French
17.3
13.7 - 21.0
15.0
11.6 - 18.4
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Indigenous identity
Indigenous
27.4
19.9 - 34.9
19.7
13.3 - 26.1
19.9
14.8 - 24.9
23.2
19.6 - 26.8
19.0
14.9 - 23.0
13.5
10.0 - 17.0
Immigrant
Immigrants
9.2
5.4 - 12.9
9.0
5.4 - 12.6
10.9
8.1 - 13.7
14.1
11.1 - 17.1
n/a
n/a
Education level
High school or less
22.7
20.4 - 24.9
22.3
20.1 - 24.5
21.0
19.7 - 22.2
21.0
19.9 - 22.0
19.1
18.1 - 20.1
16.1
15.2 - 16.9
Postsecondary
15.0
13.7 - 16.2
15.1
13.9 - 16.4
14.9
13.9 - 15.8
12.7
11.9 - 13.4
12.3
11.6 - 13.1
9.2
8.6 - 9.9
Disability or special need
Disability or special need
38.2
33.7 - 42.7
37.0
32.6 - 41.3
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Household income
Less than $30,000
28.7
25.4 - 32.1
28.2
25.1 - 31.3
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
$30,000 to less than $60,000
21.6
19.3 - 24.0
19.3
17.1 - 21.4
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
$60,000 or more
11.9
10.6 - 13.2
12.3
10.9 - 13.6
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Racialized groups
Racialized groups
11.0
6.7 - 15.4
13.2
8.7 - 17.7
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a = Not applicable / not available
S = Data suppressed due to confidentiality requirements and/or small sample size

About

This indicator is the percentage of citizens who have one or more chronic health conditions (among list of 12 conditions) who reported taking 6 or more different prescription medications on a regular basis.

Source

New Brunswick Health Council, Primary Health Survey and Primary Care Survey

Calculations

This indicator is based on respondents who have one (1) or more of the following chronic health conditions: arthritis, asthma, chronic pain, Emphysema or COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), cancer, diabetes, depression, A mood disorder other than depression, such as bipolar disorder, mania, manic depression, or dysthymia, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure or hypertension or gastric reflux (GERD). This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of respondents who said they take "6 or more prescribed medications" by the "total number of respondents who entered a valid response" to the question: How many different prescription medications are you taking on a regular or ongoing basis?

Notes

The 2020 edition of the Primary Health Survey (PHS) was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic did not influence the survey’s response rate, NBHC had to assess the impact of surveying during the pandemic. Accordingly, advanced statistical analyses were performed to allow for comparison between the results obtained in 2020 and those obtained in previous PHS cycles. Despite these analyses, users are advised to use the PHS 2020 data with caution, especially when creating estimates for small sub-populations or when comparing it to other PHS editions.

Unit

%

Interpretation

Lower is better

NBHC code

PH_MED01_2

Charts

Maps